The exterior of Tarboro Road Park Community Center on a partly cloudy day

Tarboro Road Park Public Art

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Public Art at Tarboro Road Park About the Artist About Tarboro Road Park Timeline

Public Art at Tarboro Road Park

In 2024, artist Deborah Aschheim was selected to create public art for the redevelopment of Tarboro Road Park. Deborah previously worked on the Raleigh Stories  project, a community engagement project about Raleigh neighborhoods where she drew the people and places that make Raleigh unique. During this work, Deborah was able to connect with hundreds of residents and gather personal histories from all over Southeast Raleigh. This foundation has proven beneficial for her initial research and work on Tarboro Road Park.

At Tarboro Road, Deborah is exploring themes like College Park’s historically significant people and places, community life, and neighborhood landscapes. She is planning for art glass windows that will be part of the new community center as well as signage that could connect the center to Saint Monica’s Teen Center.

Concept Design: Drawings of historic places and people of importance to College Park would celebrate everyone from nationally renowned trailblazers like Ana Julia Cooper, Mayor Clarence Lightner, and Millie Dunn Veasey to people of local importance including Sister Gary, Willie Otey Kay, and Monsignor Thomas Hadden.

Concept Design: Scenes of life in College Park could highlight the cadence of life in the neighborhood. Images would be based on family photos shared with the artist by local residents, showcasing people socializing on porches, children going to St. Monica’s school, graduations, and parades.

Concept Design: Neighborhood landscapes could include line drawings of buildings and landmarks, such as Sister Gary's church (Wesleyan First Church of Deliverance) or the O’Rorke Catholic cemetery that help preserve the feel of the community or highlight houses that have been in the same family for generations.

Concept Design: Sketch showing how the artist's images could be incorporated on glass at the proposed community center.

Concept Design: Rendering of the proposed community center featuring the artist's images on art glass.

Concept Design: Rendering of the proposed community center featuring the artist's images on art glass.

Concept Design: Rendering showing the Past to Present Promenade, connecting the center to Saint Monica's Teen Center. This shows art on glass and porcelain enamel on steel signage.

About the Artist

headshot of Deborah Aschheim

Deborah Aschheim makes installations, sculptures, and drawings about memory and place for buildings, parks, hospitals, transportation, and social media platforms. She has explored themes of collective memory, oral history, and social justice in vernacular history projects that blend participant interviews with drawing to bring the stories of diverse communities to life.

Learn more about Deborah Aschheim

About Tarboro Road Park

Created in the 1970s to serve the surrounding historically African American community, Tarboro Road Park is home to a heavily used community center and the historic St. Monica Teen Center. A picnic shelter, tennis courts, and playground were added later. Since the park’s establishment, the community center has been incrementally enlarged to serve the recreation and education needs of the site’s expanding neighborhoods. However, the current facilities are no longer adequate for the needs of a growing and transforming community.

Funded by the 2022 Parks Bond, the plan for redeveloping Tarboro Road Park includes the construction of a new, expanded community center, new outdoor amenities and recreational features, and improvements to St. Monica’s.

Learn more about the project

Timeline

The project timeline for planning, design, and construction of the Tarboro Road Park improvements runs from 2024-2028. 

DateActivity
2024 - 2025Concept Designs
2025-2026Final Designs
2026-2028Fabrication and Installation (planned)

Contact

 

Kelly Marks
Public Art Project Manager
kelly.marks@raleighnc.gov

Julia Whitfield
Public Art Community Engagement Coordinator
julia.whitfield@raleighnc.gov

Department:
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources
Service Categories:
Raleigh Arts
Board, Commission or Committee:
Public Art and Design Board
Related Services:
Artist CallsPublic Art

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